Japanese government misses threshold to change constitution

As votes have been tallied in Japanese parliamentary elections, it appears Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has fallen below the supermajority threshold needed to pursue their plans of changing the country’s constitution.

Abe’s coalition, consisting of Abe’s own Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito party, previously held a supermajority in the lower house of the Japanese government. They sought the same control in the upper house, the House of Councillors, to allow consitutional reforms to be pushed through.

The current election had 124 seats in contention, of which the LDP coalition needed 85 but only came through with 71.

This will likely put a damper on Abe’s goal of modifying the Japanese constitution, and Abe has stated he will not run for another term as Prime Minister in 2021.

Since World War 2 and the conditions imposed by the United States on Japan’s surrender, Japan’s constitution has renounced all warfighting capability. This legal requirement has long been skirted to allow the existence of Japan’s Self-Defense Force, but Japanese conservatives have long wished to modify the constitution and make the SDF’s role an official exception rather than a technicality.

Other issues ran up against the ruling government, however, such as a strained economy and an approaching sales tax increase that irked middle-class voters.

Gender equality and LGBT policy were also issues pressed upon by the liberal parties contending with the LDP and Komeito.

General disinterest with politics was also a factor, with voter turnout in the election falling below 50% and reaching the second-lowest mark since World War 2.